RALEIGH, N.C. — There was a time when close would have been good enough for Georgia Southern.

The Eagles are new to the Football Bowl Subdivision, but now they will have the highest expectations when meeting teams that play with the maximum 85 scholarships.

So Southern’s 24-23 loss to North Carolina State hurt badly Saturday afternoon at Carter-Finley Stadium in the season opener.

The Wolfpack scored on its final two full possessions and overcame a 10-point deficit in the last 6:35.

“There are no moral victories at Georgia Southern,” first-year coach Willie Fritz said. “We came in and didn’t get it done.”

Matt Dayes caught a 35-yard pass from Jacoby Brissett and stretched the ball over the goal line before Niklas Sade’s extra point provided the Wolfpack’s slim margin of victory with 1:37 left.

Southern, which is starting play in the Sun Belt Conference this season, had opportunities to put the game away, but lost a fumble at the NCSU 1 early in the fourth quarter and failed to gamble for a fourth-and-2 at the NCSU 14.

Southern’s kicker Alex Hanks converted the 31-yard field goal with 3:35 left – his third field goal of the game – but it left the Pack with an opportunity to win.

“Hindsight is 20-20, I wish I had gone for it,” Fritz said.

Brissett, a transfer from Florida, went 14 for 16 for 136 yards and two touchdowns during the Packs’ final two touchdown drives against the Eagles’ rapidly tiring defense.

Brissett finished with 291 passing yards and three touchdowns as State snapped an eight-game losing streak.

Former Liberty County star Shadrach Thornton led the Pack in rushing with 73 yards on 10 carries.

“It was a great game,” NCSU coach Dave Doeren said. “Georgia Southern played hard and it came down to the fourth quarter. I think our football team was in better shape.”

The Eagles appeared to make a seamless transition from the run-oriented option attack last season to Fritz’s more balanced spread attack.

Southern finished with 438 offensive yards — 192 through the air and 246 on the ground. Sophomore quarterback Kevin Ellison, who directed the win against Florida in the 2013 season finale, coolly threw for a career-high 184 yards and rushed for 116.

Ellison’s 29-yard touchdown pass to Kentrellis Showers with 34 seconds left in the second quarter gave Southern a 17-3 advantage.

“As a team, there’s no need to be down, there’s a lot of football to be played,” Ellison said.

But this was a game that got away despite all the good Southern accumulated.

Matt Brieda started a day of big plays by running 61 yards for a touchdown on an inside handoff.

The Eagles’ kicking game was outstanding. Ryan Nowicki punted four times for a 50.8-yard average. Nowicki’s shortest kick — a 37-yarder — was stopped at the 1.

Hanks was 3 for 3 in field-goal tries, 2 for 2 in extra points and all six of his kickoffs went for touchbacks.